Aircraft from Karachi lands in Indore airport

Indore : Security agencies and senior officials of the city airport administration swung into action when an aircraft landed at DeviAhilyaBaiHolkarAirport on Tuesday afternoon.
The aircraft was on a non-scheduled flight, and after thorough investigation, it was allowed to fly back to Nagpur from where it was diverted to Indore. Its last destination was Karachi in Pakistan.
As soon as the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower received message that an aircraft from Karachi was coming to the City airport, though it was diverted from Nagpur airport where maintenance work of the airstrip was in progress, a high alert was sounded at the airport by the security and other agencies.
Sources told this correspondent that the non-scheduled chartered plane ‘Jarada’ was landed at City airport at 1.50pm. Suddenly, Airport Director RN Shinde, CISF Deputy Commandant H Narayan, SP (west) Abid Khan, IG Indore and customs and IB officials were informed.
30/04/14 Manish Upadhyay/Free Press Journal

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Etihad to hire 22 Jet Airways pilots for a year, offers over 30 per cent pay hike

New Delhi: Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is hiring around 22 pilots from Jet Airways for its Boeing-777 wide-body aircraft fleet. These pilots, who were previously flying Airbus A330s for Jet, will be based in Abu Dhabi for a minimum contract of one year (excluding four months of training). These pilots will get tax-free income, bonuses and a hike of about 30-40% on the current base salary of about Rs 6-7 lakh a month.
Sources told FE an internal job notice has been sent to the pilots in Jet Airways on April 10. In all, 11 positions have been offered to captains (minimum 6,000 hours) and a similar number for co-pilots (minimum 1,000 hours) as well. The recruitment process is expected to be completed in May.
“Jet has excess pilots for its A330 fleet, so Etihad has offered them these positions. Some of the captains who have applied have 15,000-20,000 hours to their credit. Most likely, these pilots will be absorbed back in Jet once their contract with Etihad is over,” said a source.
The move comes three months after Etihad had offered similar jobs to Air India pilots, with a promise of a fat pay hike. Incidentally, Etihad, which is in the mid of a massive expansion spree, had recently purchased five Boeing 777 LR (Long range) aircraft from Air India and may also buy three more of the same aircraft from the state-run carrier.
29/04/14 Indian Express

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Malaysia evaluating claims of plane wreckage in Bay of Bengal, new investigator hired

The countries searching for the missing Malaysian jet are assessing a claim by a resource survey company that it found possible plane wreckage in the northern Bay of Bengal, Malaysia's defense minister said Tuesday.
The location is far from where the underwater and surface search has been concentrated for weeks. Australia-based GeoResonance Pty Ltd. stressed that it is not certain it found the Malaysia Airlines plane missing since March 8, but it called for its findings to be investigated.
The company uses imaging, radiation chemistry and other technologies to search for oil, gas or mineral deposits. In hunting for Flight 370, it used the same technology to look on the ocean floor for chemical elements that would be present in a Boeing 777: aluminum, titanium, jet fuel residue and others.
GeoResonance compared multispectral images taken March 5 and 10 — before and after the plane's disappearance — and found a specific area where the data varied between those dates, it said in a statement. The location is about 190 kilometers (118 miles) south of Bangladesh.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said China and Australia were aware of the announcement. "Malaysia is working with its international partners to assess the credibility of this information," a statement from his office said.
29/04/14 Associated Press/Reuters/Christian Science Monitor

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MH370 Wreckage Found: U.S. Pilot Claims to Discover Wreckage of Missing Aircraft

An American pilot claimed he has found wreckage of the missing airline. After 52 days of the search mission, Michael Hoebel, a pilot from New York, believed he has found the wreckage site of missing jet, Daily Mail reported.
The 60-year-old pilot reportedly spent hours scrutinizing satellite images made available to the general public by the Web site TomNod.com, before he concluded MH370 was lying underneath the Indian Ocean. He noted he has discovered the outline of the jetliner at the bottom of the ocean, off the northeast coast of Malaysia. The area was west of Songkhla in Thailand.
If debris lying at the bottom of the Indian Ocean were verified to be the missing Boeing 777, then it appeared to be in one piece, as per the image that was taken few days after the alleged crash.
The New York pilot informed his hometown news channel WIVB about his discovery.
"I was taken aback because I couldn't believe I would find this," he told WIVB.
Heobel said the doomed missing Boeing 777, matched in its dimensions with the debris he found underneath the ocean.
While comparing the satellite image to the photo of the missing plane, the pilot gave his analysis to the reporter. When asked if it could be a shark, he responded: "That's a 210ft shark."
The pilot told he has reached out to Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Transportation Safety Board about his findings.
29/01/14 Jaskiran Kaur/International Business Times

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MH370: Australian exploration company believes it may have found plane

Petaling Jaya: An Australian exploration company has claimed that it has found the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370, six weeks after it left Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing on March 8.
Adelaide-based GeoResonance said on Monday that stated that it had begun its own search for the missing Boeing 777 March 10 and that it has detected possible wreckage in the Bay of Bengal, 5000km away from the current search location in the southern Indian Ocean off Perth.
GeoResonance’s search covered 2,000,000 square kilometres of the possible crash zone, using images obtained from satellites and aircraft, with company scientists focusing their efforts north of MH370’s last known location, using over 20 technologies to analyse the data including a nuclear reactor.
According to company spokesperson David Pope, “The technology that we use was originally designed to find nuclear warheads, submarines. Our team in the Ukraine decided we should try and help.”
Pope added GeoResonance had compared their findings with images taken on March 5, three days before MH370 was reported missing – and they did not find what they had detected at that spot.
“The wreckage wasn’t there prior to the disappearance of MH370. We’re not trying to say that it definitely is MH370, however it is a lead we feel should be followed up,” said Pope.
28/04/14 The Star

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Costs Soaring, Air Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Ends, but Undersea Mission Continues

With the cost for the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 soaring into the tens of millions, flights looking for the wreckage have been suspended, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday. The search, 52 days old now, will continue on the ocean floor, however, and the cost of locating the wreckage will keep rising.
Experts say the chances of finding the wreckage are remote and suggest that authorities involved should expect the search to be more complex than the search for Air France Flight 447, which took off from Rio de Janeiro in 2009 and disappeared en route to Paris. Searchers did not find the aircraft until 2011.
“Air France knows the track that they take. They knew where it was going across, and they knew more or less how far they had gotten on that line. It still took two years to find the recorders,” said Robert Francis, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
The two-year search cost approximately 115 million euros, or about $160 million at the time, according to experts. “It is worth noting that sea search operation costs are dependent on fuel prices,” a 2011 report on the search efforts said.
Australia plans on conducting “an intensified underwater search involving different technology, in particular using specialized side scan sonar equipment towed behind ships to scan the seabed for evidence of aircraft wreckage,” Abbott said during a press conference in Canberra. He added that his government would begin arranging to hire private contractors to conduct this next phase of the search.
28/04/14 Karla Zabludovsky/News Week

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MH370 Tragedy: Japan requests to join expert panel

Kuala Lumpur: Japan has requested to take part in the international panel of experts looking into the Malaysia Airlines MH370 tragedy, said Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
He said Japan was welcomed to join in as the panel was transparent and credible.
"We have no problem getting people to come onboard because the whole world wants to know about MH370 and, like I said before, probably what we find out about MH370 will change the history of aviation," he told reporters.
Hishammuddin had earlier received a courtesy visit from his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera at the Defence Ministry in Jalan Semarak, here, today.
He noted that Malaysia and Japan were keen to continue working on issues like ensuring peace and stability in the region, disaster relief, sharing information on counter-terrorism and the defence industry.
29/04/14 New Straits Times

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New Doha airport all set for ‘inaugural landing’

Doha: A new chapter in Qatar’s aviation history begins with the “inaugural landing” at the state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport (HIA) at 10am tomorrow.
Some 10 airlines, including budget carriers, will move operations to HIA from 11am tomorrow. They are Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Iran Air, Air India Express, Yemenia Yemen Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Nepal Airlines, Syrian Airlines and Pegasus Airlines.
The first “commercial landing” at HIA will be at 11-15am tomorrow.
All airlines, including the national carrier Qatar Airways, will entirely move to the new Hamad International Airport (HIA) from 9am on May 27.
The new airport can be accessed through the Ras Abboud – Wakrah highway.
Mowasalat will operate two public bus routes to and from Hamad International Airport, HIA said. For the time being, complimentary shuttle service will be provided between Doha International and Hamad International airports.
Hamad International Airport’s tranquil waterside setting provides a perfect backdrop for its stylish architectural design, underpinned by advanced airport systems.
Situated on reclaimed land, the passenger terminal complex is 600,000 sq m in size and is the “largest building” in Doha.
28/04/14 Pratap John/Gulf Times

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Malindo Air begins service from Kochi to Kuala Lumpur

Kochi: Malaysia's hybrid airline Malindo Air has launched its daily service from Kochi to Kuala Lumpur.
The inaugural flight took off from the Cochin International Airport last night, Malindo Air CEO Chandran Rama Muthy said on Tuesday.
Kochi is Malindo Air's fifth destination in India and the tenth international destination for the one-year-old carrier. The flight is operated on the airline's brand new 180-seater Boeing 737-900ER.
The airline in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia is organising a Malaysia Travel Fair at 'Lulu Mall' here.
Visitors to the fair will get exclusive promotional rates only available at the fair as the carrier intends to woo more visitors from Kochi to Malaysia for 'Visit Malaysia year 2014,' the airline said.
29/04/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Man caught with 450 star back tortoises at Trivandrum International Airport

Emigration officials at Trivandrum International Airport (TIA) on Monday intercepted an air passenger hailing from Tamil Nadu trying to smuggle 450 star back tortoises - estimated to fetch $500 in the illegal market - into Bangkok via Malaysia and Colombo.
The carrier, Abdul Rahman, from Ramanathapuram, managed to pass undetected with the tortoises as they were hidden in his check-in baggage bound for Sri Lankan Airways, but was caught as he fumbled about his final destination while going through emigration check.
"The man had a visa for Malaysia but insisted that he was travelling to Bangkok which set off alarm bells as Bangkok has visa on entry. The immigration official took him aside and flagged him down to the customs officials. At the customs holding area the man seemed jittery. He had nothing on his person but something didn't quite add up. When we asked the airline to bring his bag, which was already on its way to the airplane, we noticed that the entire bag was full of star back tortoise hatchlings," said a customs official.
29/04/14 Times of India

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Poet 'Can't Look Away' From The Murdered Children Of Air India 182

On June 23, 1985, somewhere around latitude 510'N and longitude 1250'W, just off the south coast of Ireland, 82 children and 247 adults were murdered on Air India Flight 182. The majority of the victims were Canadians of Indian ancestry.
Among the mystery, lies, cover-ups, court trials, conspiracy theories and missing tapes, the stories of these 82 children have remained lost, forgotten from public discourse. It's these hidden stories, messages and lives that poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar resurrects in her BC Book Prize-nominated book of poetry, Children of Air India: un/authorized exhibits and interjections.
If you've ever felt that poetry was beyond you or hard to approach, Renée's book of elegies -- poems for the dead -- will change your mind. Readers will find themselves immersed in the exhibits and documents and ghosts who haunt the pages of what will likely become a seminal text in the ongoing narrative of the Air India 182 bombing, the largest act of terrorism in Canada.
The poems read like exhibits in a trial, but Renée is quick to say that it's a work of the imagination: "It's not reportage, it's not live testimony alone." That said, the book includes years of archival research, as well as glimpses into Renée's own tenuous and fraught relationship with the memory of the murders.
"It was terrifying, obsessive, overwhelming," Renée shared. "I literally spent years with all these documents. This is the first book of its kind in Canada, and so when you do something like that, there isn't a lot that you can build on. I think the inquiry into the investigation of the bombing itself ... there are over 17,000 documents, and I've only looked at a fraction. It became an obsession. It became overwhelming. It became this thing that would not let me go."
28/04/14 Huffington Post

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Rs 6cr fake Indian notes recovered at Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport

A consignment of forged Indian currency notes of Rs 6.40 crore was recovered at Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday less than two months after the arrest of a smuggler of such fake currencies in the capital.
Tipped-off, a team of customs intelligence searched the airport's cargo section around noon and recovered the Indian currencies.
Those have been brought here from Pakistan in a Qatar Airways cargo flight, said Nur-e-Alam Siddiqui, assistant superintendent of police in the Armed Police Battalion.
“We found six bundles of Indian currencies with the same serial number. This made us suspect that these are fake,” said Moinul Khan, director general of customs intelligence.
On March 3, Detective Branch of police arrested a smuggler identified as Mokhlesur Rahman with fake notes of Rs 1.5 lakh, which exposed a smuggling network operating from Pakistan to India, using Bangladesh as a transit point.
He was about to transport them to Sylhet, where they are in huge demand among illegal cow traders and narcotics dealers, Jahangir Alam, assistant commissioner of DB police had told The Daily Star.
28/04/14 The Daily Star

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Oxygen cylinder empty, Air India’s Frankfurt-Delhi flight delayed by 24 hours

New Delhi:  An unserviceable oxygen bottle on an aircraft has cost Air India dearly and led to a delay of over 24 hours for the 245 passengers who were to fly from Frankfurt to Delhi on Friday night. Since the Dreamliner (VT-AOG) could not take off without this vital emergency equipment, all the flyers were put up in an expensive Frankfurt hotel.
"Oxygen bottles are critical emergency equipment meant to supply oxygen to pilots in the cockpit in the event of a drop in cabin pressure. Passengers and cabin crew have to breathe through overhead masks that are supplied oxygen through another O2 generator located in overhead panel. Pilots are supplied through separate bottles so that in case of cabin depressurisation or smoke, they do not suffer hypoxia (pass out due to O2 deficiency) which is an insidious killer — one of the worst possible scenarios for any aircraft and its passengers," said a source.
An AI official said the airline despatched another oxygen bottle on a flight to Frankfurt on Saturday morning. "Oxygen bottle does not come under minimum equipment list (that is it can be allowed to operate without an item that is on this list being operational). So the plane had to be grounded. This aircraft is now expected to take off late on Saturday night (India time)," said an AI official.
27/04/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Maldives has to pay about $300 mn to GMR, says president

The Maldives has to pay a compensation of about $300 million to India's GMR for the premature termination of the agreement to develop the Maldives main international airport, President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom said on Saturday.
The president's comments come a day after GMR officials said that it stood by its compensation claim of $1.4 billion from the Maldives.
After returning to Male from Singapore, the president told local reporters at the airport that the Maldivian government could terminate the contract as it "damaged state and national interests". But since GMR had carried out some of the development works at the airport, the government has to pay compensation, he said.
"I doubt whether [the arbitrators] would decide to include, in the compensation payment, GMR's projected profit by running the airport for 25 years. … We believe that the compensation would amount to about $300 million or less," the president said.
President Yameen stressed that the compensation payment would affect the state budget, but added that $300 million is a "manageable" sum. The state owned Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), which now runs the airport, is "saving up" that sum, he said.
The president's comments come a day after GMR officials said it stood by its compensation claim of $1.4 billion from the Maldives.
27/04/14 Ahmed Naif/Haveeru Online

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Arik Air Plans Direct Air Service to India

Arik Air Nigeria has said it is exploring the possibility of introducing direct service to India, following recent visit of Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency, Ajjampur Rangalah Ghanashyam to the airline’s headquarters in Lagos.
The High Commissioner was at the Arik Air Aviation Centre to explore opportunities on how to facilitate direct flights between Nigeria and India. Presently, there are no direct flights between the two countries, with travellers currently forced to board connecting flights through Addis Ababa, South Africa or Dubai.
According to the High Commissioner, direct flights between Nigeria and India would boost business, tourism, save passengers flight time and reduce the stress of the journey.  “Direct flights are also important during medical emergencies, because direct movement of patients during emergencies would save a lot of lives.”
Speaking after inspecting the facilities at Arik Air, Ghanashyam said he was impressed with the profile of the airline, which he said showed a professionally run carrier.
27/04/14 Leadership

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Qatar Airways will seek more capacity in India: Akbar Al Baker

Mumbai: Qatar Airways flies to 12 Indian cities, more than its peers in the Gulf, and its hub in Doha competes with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah for traffic. Qatar Airways' growth in India has, however, been hit, as the Indian government has not revised bilateral seat entitlements, despite Qatar's requests. Chief executive Akbar Al Baker, in an email interview with Aneesh Phadnis, talks about the airline's growth plans in India. Edited excerpts:
How does Qatar Airways plan to expand in India? Does it plan to open new routes such as those to Lucknow and Jaipur, or add capacity to existing routes?
Since 2004, when Qatar Airways flew to only four cities in India, the airline has increased capacity and destinations across the country to 12 cities, with overall frequency of 95 passenger flights and 15 freight services a week.
India is growing as an economic hub and shows enormous potential. As the Indian aviation sector prepares for its next phase, it will witness increasing demand from new metro cities and this increasing demand from tier-II markets will be a key growth driver for the sector.
This is one of the major reasons we have daily connections to Amritsar, Goa, Kochi and Ahmedabad. In keeping with our aggressive growth plans, we will continue to introduce new routes in the coming months.
The International Air Transport Association and international airlines operating to India have criticised the high tariffs and taxes on aviation fuel here. What policy changes do you want to see in India? Will those be necessary before you invest in India?
The Indian aviation sector needs to look at growing airport infrastructure and modernise air space management for better utilisation of airport capacity. It is extremely important for India to have a strong aviation regulator to ensure airport charges are capped for growth in the aviation market. This is important not only for foreign carriers, but more so for Indian carriers. A strong regulator is crucial for passengers, as well as operators.
26/04/14 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Air India to put overseas assets on the block to rake in resources: report

New Delhi: Air India is considering selling off its properties in foreign destinations like Hong Kong, Nairobi and Mauritius as part of asset monetisation to garner resources, according to airline officials.
 The national carrier has started approaching Indian banks and public sector undertakings for disposal of these properties including floorspace in prime locations, they said.
 They further said the Indian High Commissions at these places have also been approached to help the airline find suitable buyers for the assets.
 The plan to monetize real estate assets is an important ingredient of Air India's financial restructuring and turnaround plans, under which the airline aims to raise an estimated Rs. 5,000 crore over a period of 10 years, with an annual target of Rs. 500 crore from 2013-14 onwards.
The airline has already chalked out plans to monetise its unutilised or surplus immovable assets over the next few years, the officials said, adding properties in several cities including Delhi and Mumbai are already in the process of either being sold, or leased or rented out.
27/04/14 PTI/NDTV

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Air India Express moves flights to Sharjah

Air India Express, the low-cost airline subsidiary of Air India, will operate its flight services from Sharjah, starting May 1, due to the partial closure of runway at the Dubai International Airport.
"With partial runway closure at Dubai airport from May 1 to July 20, flights between Dubai and Pune, Amritsar, Lucknow, Trichy and Jaipur will operate to and from Sharjah," Air India Express said in a notice on its website.
The airline has advised customers to check the website for detailed flight timings.
Dubai Airports has said all systems will undergo a comprehensive runway upgrade as part of the project to boost safety, service and capacity levels at the world's second busiest international airport.
"The work will last 80 days during which the runways would be closed alternatively— the southern runway from May 1 to May 31 and the northern runway from May 31 to July 20.
“The number of flights at Dubai international airport is likely to be reduced by 26 per cent during the repair," Dubai Airports said.
"The flights will continue to operate thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
27/04/14 Emirates 24|7

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Afghan police thwarts heroin smuggling to India from Kabul airport

Afghan border police forces successfully thwarted an attempt to smuggle 2 kilograms of heroin from Kabul International Airport to the India.
Gen. Haq Nawaz Haqiar, commander of the Afghan border police forces in Kabul Airport said two smugglers were also arrested in connection to the smuggling plot.
He said the smugglers had inserted the heroin inside capsules and were looking to smuggle it to India.
The interior ministry of Afghanistan following a statement said the two drug smugglers are custody of the police forces and have been introduced to judiciary institutions.
This comes as another individual was arrested along with 854 grams of heroin from Kabul International Airport last Monday.
Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world and opium production has been on the rise since the US-led invasion in 2001 despite billions have been invested by international community in counter-narcotics projects.
26/04/14 Khaama Press

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Member of Sikh terrorist group linked to Air India bombing to be deported

Vancouver: A man who admitted he once led the British arm of a terrorist organization banned in Canada has been ruled inadmissible to this country, with the Immigration and Refugee Board saying he had to have known the Babbar Khalsa used violence in its quest for an independent Sikh state.
The board, in a ruling released to the public Friday, issued a deportation order against Gurmej Singh Gill. His case was referred to the board in November when he arrived in British Columbia for a visit. Two of his children live in this province.
Mr. Gill, 71, had told the board he never advocated for violence. He said the Babbar Khalsa in Britain was different from Babbar Khalsa International or groups in other countries, such as Canada.
But adjudicator Geoff Rempel, in his ruling, said the groups were one in the same, leaving Mr. Gill inadmissible to Canada because he was a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engaged in terrorism. The Babbar Khalsa has been linked to the Air India bombings that killed 331 people in June, 1985.
“I find it likely that Mr. Gill was aware of the BK/BKI’s terrorist actions during his tenure with the organization, whether or not he approved of them,” Mr. Rempel wrote.
25/04/14 The Globe and Mail

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GMR continues to pursue its $1.4 billion compensation claim against Maldives

Bangalore-based infrastructure company GMRBSE 0.39 % said on Friday that it will not change its compensation claim of $1.4 billion from the Maldivian government over the termination of a contract to develop and operate the Male International Airport.
GMR's statement came after Maldivian media quoted President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom as saying that the island nation will try to reduce the compensation amount to GMR.
"We believe that the government will have to pay compensation to GMR at any cost," President Gayoom was quoted by Maldivian news portal 'Haveeru Online'. "We're trying to get the sum that we have to pay lowered- we're trying to get it reduced to a more plausible sum."
GMR and the Maldivian government are currently in arbitration before the Singapore Court of Appeal. The Bangalore-based company's contract was unilaterally scrapped by the then Maldivian government headed by President Mohammed Waheed whose government alleged irregularities in the bidding process which GMR had won.
25/04/14 Debabrata Das/Economic Times

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Relief to passengers, winter fog may not play spoilsport for flyers in Delhi

New Delhi: In a relief to passengers flying in and out of New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the country's civil aviation ministry has said that new measures will be implemented by October this year to make sure that there will be no more flight diversions due to winter fog. The plan is to make IGIA a “zero diversionary” airport soon.
Among the 27 recommendations given by a committee set up under the Director General of Civil Aviation in January this year that are now being adopted, all operators, including foreign airlines, shall deploy only Cat IIIB compliant aircraft along with qualified flight crew during winter season to/from IGIA.
“Operators must ensure adequate capacity build-up in terms of aircraft capability and crew qualification well in time before the onset of next fog season. All scheduled airlines shall provide their detailed Cat III status indicating aircraft and crew numbers through a consolidated return to DGCA every year,” an official statement said.
24/04/14 Financial Express

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Official: Iran's Aviation Industry Prioritizing Cooperation with India

Tehran: The Civil Aviation Organization of Iran plans to expand its cooperation with its Indian counterpart, an official announced.
"Mutual air transportation cooperation between Iran and India is among the priorities of the Iran Civil Aviation Organization," ICAO Director General for Legal and International Affairs Mohammad Saeed Sharif said after a meeting with aviation officials in Tehran.
He noted that Indians plan to build home-made passenger planes, which can pave the way for further cooperation between Tehran and New Delhi in the field of aviation.
"Training expert aviation workforce for India, training expert airport management personnel, airport operations, flight control and other needed expertise as well as export of technical and engineering services are among the opportunities that Iran can seize in India," Sharif said.
23/04/14 FARS News

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Indian-origin British Airways passenger gropes sleeping woman's breasts mid-flight

New York: An Indian-origin man traveling in a British Airways flight has been accused of slipping his hand underneath a sleeping woman's shirt and touching her breasts during a trip from London to San Francisco.
The suspect, Vinay Pochampally, was nabbed by cops at the San Francisco International Airport and charged with simple assault and faces a maximum penalty of up to 6 months in jail.
According to the New York Daily News, a U.S. District Court criminal complaint said that the alleged assault happened on April 15, two hours into Flight 285 from London to San Francisco.
25/04/14 ANI/Business Standard

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Broken wings delay Dreamliner delivery

New Delhi: After a spate of technical glitches, Boeing Dreamliner is now giving structural nightmares to Air India. The B-787 that AI was supposed to take delivery of this month in the US has developed hairline cracks on its carbon-fiber composite wings.
In fact, a number of other Dreamliners under varying stages of assembly in the US have also developed similar problems, delaying their delivery to respective airlines. AI is now hoping that Boeing will be able to resolve the latest problem with the Dreamliner and expects to get its 14th plane next month.
"We have 13 B-787s in our fleet presently. The 14th one was to be delivered to AI in US this month. But the discovery of hairline cracks in the wings of this plane has delayed its delivery. A number of other B-787s under assembly have also suffered the same issue. Boeing has told us that this aircraft will be delivered to us in May," said a senior official.
"None of the in-service Dreamliners, or at least those with AI, have the cracks-in-wings problem. The AI Dreamliners are perfectly safe to fly. It is only the undelivered planes that have suffered this issue and Boeing is working on that. Also, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assured all airlines that it will ensure this problem is satisfactorily sorted out before these planes are delivered," said the official.
24/04/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Now, another Malaysia Airlines-owned plane in emergency, 64 passengers escape tragedy

Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysia Airlines-owned unit's plane was forced to turn back 15 minutes after its departure from Penang Airport today due to technical difficulties.
The Firefly flight-bound for Kota Baru, experienced technical problems and returned to Penang International Airport, a statement released by the airlines said.
Firefly is a full-service point-to-point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines.
"This was because the aircraft's landing gear was unable to retract after being airborne," it said.
The incident comes four days after a Bangalore-bound Malaysia Airlines plane with 166 people on board turned back shortly after takeoff due to problem in its landing gear.
The airline is still reeling from the loss and presumed crash of flight MH370, which disappeared March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
24/04/14 PTI/Financial Express

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MH370: New investigating team set up

Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Lumpur has set up a new International Investigating Team (IIT) that will cover all aspects  of investigations into  missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The new team, which will evaluate and determine the causes that led to the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200ER twinjet, will likely rope in members from Asean with expertise and technologies in dealing with aircraft-related incidents and accident investigations.
Members of the IIT, which will be under three groups, will independently look at the aircraft's airworthiness and operational aspects, as well as the medical and human factors.
The findings will hopefully prevent a recurrence.
Experts in the groups will focus largely on the plane's maintenence, structures and record systems.
They will also examine the flight recorders and metereological factors as well as analyse the psychological, pathological and survival factors related to the flight, which had 239 people on board.
The cabinet, at its weekly meeting yesterday, deliberarated on matters surrounding MH370 at length and approved the establishment of the IIT.
Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the team, whose members and terms of reference would be decided on soon, would make public their findings.
24/04/14 Aliza Shah and Zafira Anwar/New Straits Times

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IndiGo's A-320 fleet to undergo major maintenance in Sri Lanka

New Delhi: No-frill carrier IndiGo's Airbus A-320 fleet would now on undergo major maintenance checks in the hangars of SriLankan Airlines in the island nation.
An agreement to this effect was signed between SriLankan and IndiGo's parent company, InterGlobe Aviation Limited, to enable the Indian carrier's fleet of 78 A-320s undergo 'C' checks by SriLankan's Engineering Division at the country's second international airport, Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in Hambantota, a SriLankan release said.
A 'C' check is performed approximately every 20-24 months or a specific amount of actual flight hours or as defined by the manufacturer.
This extensive check requires a large majority of the components to be inspected in a hangar, thus putting the aircraft out of service for almost two weeks.
24/04/14 PTI/Economic Times

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SriLankan signs MRO deal with InterGlobe Aviation

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, has announced the signing of a long term Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) agreement with InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo), India’s fastest growing low-cost airlines with the largest market share, consisting of a fleet of 78 Airbus A320 aircraft flying 482 daily flights to 36 destinations.
The agreement came into effect from April 1, 2014 and will see SriLankan Airlines’ Engineering Division carry out ‘C’ checks on IndiGo’s entire Airbus fleet.
SriLankan, which has been providing such MRO services to IndiGo since February 2009 on an annual contract basis, reached the impressive milestone of completing the 100th IndiGo ‘C’ check in January this year.
SriLankan Airlines Head of Engineering, Priyantha Rose attributed SriLankan Engineering’s excellent maintenance track record and relationship with IndiGo over the last five years to the success of the new agreement, which was awarded on a competitive basis.
“We have developed an excellent relationship with the IndiGo management in the last five years and the selection of SriLankan to continue to provide maintenance services was aided in no small part by a meeting of the leadership of both airlines which took place late last year in Delhi, as part of initiatives to expand the scope of services and mutual cooperation in the areas of flight training, GSA networks and other areas in the Aviation field.”
24/04/14 Lanka Business Today

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Half-a-world flight without skull bone

Kolkata: When 64-year-old Ivan Lin Chung, a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin, was wheeled into a private hospital in Kolkata last February, his right side was paralyzed and his speech had been affected by a clot in the brain. Doctors rated his chances of survival at less than 50%. Removing a skull bone was the only option left to them. They not only operated on him successfully but accompanied him in his 32-hour journey on connecting flights to hand him over to his family members in Toronto.
Ivan, who was on his way back home after a trip to China, had stopped over in Kolkata to spend the Chinese New Year with relatives. During a two-month stay at the hospital, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, forcing doctors to remove his skull bone to ease the pressure on the brain. On April 13, Ivan — a doctor himself — left the city on a Jet Airways flight for Mumbai, en route to Brussels from where he flew business class to his home in Toronto, accompanied by a doctor and a nurse from the hospital. He made the journey lying on a stretcher, semi-conscious and without his skull bone, even as a battery-operated monitor tracked his vital parameters.
24/04/14 Prithvijit Mitra/Times of India

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Philippines signs airport pact with GMR despite legal issues

Bangalore: Various ongoing legal issues notwithstanding, the GMR-Megawide consortium on Tuesday signed the concession agreement with the Philippines’ Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) for expanding the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
The concession agreement was signed after the consortium paid $320 million as upfront premium.
According to a statement from GMR Infrastructure, this marks the beginning of a transition phase before the operations of MCIA are formally handed over to GMR-Megawide later in the year.
After giving a bid of $320 million, the GMR-Megawide consortium had emerged as the highest bidder for the MCIA project in the international bidding process, which culminated in December. DOTC had formally issued the Letter of Award to the consortium on April 4.
23/04/14 Business Standard

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Etihad audit indicates Jet Airways has 700-employee surplus

The indications are clear that after infusing equity of Rs 2,057 crore in India's second largest commercial airline, Jet Airways, last year, Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad is tightening its control over the Indian carrier, and scrutinising its cost structure to make it viable.
Sources in Jet said that in an audit - now a continuous process, undertaken by Etihad - the Abu Dhabi-based carrier conveyed to Jet that more than 700 of its 10,000-plus employees were surplus.
"Going by this number that has been conveyed to Jet by Etihad, the 40 employees who have been asked to leave is just the beginning, and a minuscule number," said a Jet employee who does not want to be identified.
A source at the airline indicated that the airline has not yet handed over termination notices to the 40 employees, although some media reports have said they were asked to leave. "These employees met the management, and... till date they have not been handed over the notices," the source said.
Jet Airways did not comment on specific details about the withholding of notices and the surplus number of 700. But its spokesperson said: "Jet Airways would like to categorically state that the services of no employee at Delhi have been terminated, apart from normal attrition, which is way below industry levels. In fact, the airline continues to recruit in areas like revenue management, cabin crew and pilots based on its operational requirements." He added that there has been a "realignment of the airline's cargo handling operations".
22/04/14 Manisha Singhal/Business Today

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Etihad Names Managers Before Transition to Etihad Aviation Group

Etihad Airways announced a series of executive appointments, including the hiring of a former Air Canada manager to head operations as the carrier prepares for a transition into Etihad Aviation Group.
Rick Allen, formerly of Air Canada, was named senior vice president of operations, responsible for flight operations, guest services, crew resources, and operations logistics and standards, the airline said. Other posts at the national airline of the United Arab Emirates include the promotion of Chris Youlten to the new job of senior vice president for airport and network operations, reporting to the chief operating officer.
“The new structure marks the transition from a single entity airline to a wider global aviation group,” Etihad said in a statement yesterday. “It distinguishes the functions relating purely to Etihad Airways and those which support the growth and success of its subsidiaries, joint venture companies and equity partners.”
Etihad has built stakes in airlines including Air Berlin Plc, Air Seychelles Ltd., Aer Lingus Group Plc, Virgin Australia, Air Serbia and Jet Airways India Ltd., and is seeking regulatory approval to invest in Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airline. The strategy feeds more traffic through Abu Dhabi, Etihad’s desert hub. Chief Executive Officer James Hogan is considering an investment in Alitalia SpA, the ailing Italian carrier.
22/04/14 Andrea Rothman and Deena Kamel Yousef/Bloomberg

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All airlines to operate from Hamad International Airport from May 27

Doha: Starting 9 am on May 27 this year, all airlines are set to operate from Hamad International Airport (HIA). The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued a circular yesterday, informing country managers of airlines of this decision.
It was announced earlier that 10 budget airlines would start operating from the new terminal from April 30. These include Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Iran Air, Air India Express, Yemenia Yemen Airlines, Pakistan International Airline, Nepal Airline, Syrian Airline and Pegasus Airline.
The airport is expected to handle around 8700 passengers per hour and up to 19,500 bags an hour. It will have the largest free span hangar, which will enable it to handle multiple aircraft configurations and a dual runway system built for the world’s largest aircraft such as the A380. Apart from a greater capacity to accommodate more flights and passengers, it will also have a wide range of facilities for passengers including retail and F&B outlets capable of serving over 90,000 meals a day.
The airport opening has been stalled several times in the past. The big launch scheduled for April 1, 2013 was cancelled in the last minute, as authorities said safety standards were not met.
22/04/14 Just Here

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Aero-bridge installed Biju Patnaik International Airport

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Patnaik International Airport has got the requisite permissions form the Air Authority of India (AAI) to build a lower area control centre (LACC) in its premises to have more control over flights. Sources said the proposed centre would ensure better control of aircrafts flying up to a height of 25,500 feet making air travel in them safer. “Earlier, the total control was with Kolkata. But under space harmonisation, we are now given the permission to have lower area control and approach control. Kolkata will control the aircrafts flying over 25,500 feet high,” said Airport Director Sharad Kumar.
23/04/14 Odisha Diary

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Chinese gangs implicated in India gold smuggling

Mumbai: A Dubai based Chinese mafia appears to be playing a key role in gold smuggling incidents, especially in South India, customs officials in India say.
Over the last few months, customs officials at the Rajiv Gandhi international Airport in Hyderabad, have detained more than 50 passengers and recovered approximately 80 kilograms of gold. On April 1, about 7.70 kilogram of gold was seized from two passengers by the Directorate of revenue intelliegence sleuths, which was the first instance to alert the investigating team about the role of the neighbouring nation.
"Though it sounds incredulous, investigators have come across enough evidence to indicate that Chinese gangs are hiring operators in other countries and smuggling gold into Hyderabad, Kerala and other Indian cities," said Kalyan Revella, Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, at Hyderabad.
Revella said that his investigators had found passengers from Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia carrying illegal gold into Hyderabad. "During the course of the investigation, most of them disclosed that they had been handed the gold to smuggle into the city. They were to get a commission of $8,254 (Rs 500,000) per 1 kilogram," he said.
"Based on the confessions of detained passengers, we have investigated the cases and got some leads that some middlemen were hired by gangs based in China, who were targetting other gangs in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. The motive of the gangs is to smuggle gold to India, and the middlemen lure passengers by offering attractive commissions," Revella added.
22/04/14 Mineweb

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MH192 passengers all praise for captain

Bangalore: Most of the 159 passengers onboard the Bangalore-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH 192, which turned back and made an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur on Monday morning after developing a technical snag, felt they had been blessed with a second life after the four-hour ordeal.
The passengers arrived in Bangalore on Monday evening in a brand new B737-800. Relatives of most had turned up at Kempegowda International Airport to receive the passengers. Many broke down on being united with their families. Some did not want to recollect the ordeal while others were philosophical. “I felt that I came close to death. I made the most sincere prayers in my life,” said one of them.
Most passengers were all praise for Captain Nor Adam Azim. Some went to the extent of calling him ‘God-sent’.
Rajkumar, a businessman from Bangalore, was returning home from a business trip to China. He recalled that passengers heard a blast-like sound during takeoff. Soon, the captain announced that there was a technical snag and they would be making an emergency landing in KL. “After two unsuccessful attempts that left passengers fearing for their lives, the captain skilfully landed the flight. By then, we had spent four hours in the air,” he said.
Another passenger, Devadas, who was accompanied by wife Shashikala, said, “Before the third attempt, the situation was very tense as the captain had announced that we were running out of fuel and this would be the last attempt. When he successfully landed the plane, all the passengers erupted in joy and relief.”
22/04/14 The Hindu

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Hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal lied about being a carrier pilot

New Delhi: High-flying hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal pleaded guilty last Thursday to charges of illegal campaign contributions to three US candidates via straw donors. His former buddies in the Indian Navy say he is also guilty of another, admittedly far lesser, offence: consistently lying about being a former Indian naval carrier pilot.
In several press interviews over the past few decades, Chatwal, 70, claimed to have attended naval flying school and flying from the India's first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. His former naval buddies, however, say Chatwal was a rookie pilot who failed to make the grade.
Vice Admiral (retired) Vinod Pasricha, a veteran carrier pilot first smelt a rat while researching his 2010 book "Downwind Four Green" on the navy's Sea Hawk fighter squadron. It was an aircraft type Chatwal would have flown off the decks of the Vikrant. Admiral Pasricha , however, did not find any mention of a carrier pilot named Chatwal. "There was no flying school in the navy (naval pilots then trained at the IAF's training school at Bidar). Chatwal joined the navy as a naval aviation cadet and was thrown out of flying after only about seven sorties."
Colleagues in Chatwal's 99th general duties pilot course at Bidar call him a high-flyer for his brazen self-promotion. During his Services Selection Board (SSB) interview in Dehra Dun in 1966, he told the GTO he had flying experience. When he failed to make the grade, he flew around 14 hours didn't make the solo grade, Chatwal joked he was talking about "flying kites."
Chatwal left the navy and moved to Ethiopia as a teacher where he also ran an Indian restaurant. He left Ethiopia after the collapse of the Haile Selassie dictatorship in 1974, moved to Canada and from there, to the US. The naval carrier pilot legend may have come handy to break into the US restaurant scene in the mid-1980s. Prominent US politicians including Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush Senior have been carrier pilots. Chatwal told Forbes magazine in 1987 that he was 'trained as a fighter pilot and assigned to India's only aircraft carrier, the Vikrant, in the mid 1960s.'
22/04/14 Sandeep Unnithan/India Today

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Police investigate Malaysian Airline "sabotage" theory after third jet is hit by technical problems

Police are looking at whether a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bangalore was SABOTAGED, forcing it to make an emergency landing this morning.
Flight MH192 had to turn back and land at the Malaysian capital's airport when a tyre burst during take-off.
It landed three hours after take-off with 166 passengers and crew on board.
During a press conference today acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein called for police to conduct an investigation.
Confirming that the possibility of sabotage would be looked into, inspector general of police Khalid Abu Baker reponded: "We will take the necessary steps to investigate."
The news came after acting transport minister Hishammudin Hussein asked police to look into the possibility of sabotage.
Mr Hussein said that normally incidents like this would not be dealt with by his department, but because of the disappearance of flight MH370 the government was monitoring the situation closely.
On March 24 this year, another Malaysia Airlines flight, MH066 from Kuala Lumpur, was forced to land in Hong Kong after it suffered an electrical failure on the way to Incheon, South Korea.
He told reporters: "These sort of incidents should not happen. I have directed that although [Malaysia Airlines] is under Khazana [Malaysia's commercial department], the ministry should be given the report as soon as possible.
21/04/14 Richard Hartley-Parkinson/Mirror, UK

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Flight 370 Relatives Assail Malaysia Government Over Investigation

Relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 assailed the Malaysian government over its investigation, as a search of the southern Indian Ocean seabed continued after a week to yield no trace of the missing jet.
Sara Bacj, an American whose partner, Philip Wood, was aboard the plane, sent an email to the media in the name of The United Families of MH370 objecting to the possibility that the government could issue death certificates and attempt to settle on compensation before the plane is found.
The email also criticized Malaysia for not seeking an independent scientific review of the technical analysis that led the search to focus on the current area. Conducted by the satellite company Inmarsat and the international investigative team, the analysis concluded that the flight--en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing--went radically off course, ending in the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) northwest of Perth, Australia.
"WE ARE IN UTTER OUTRAGE, DESPAIR AND SHOCK!" the email concluded.
The families' statement came as an unmanned underwater vehicle neared the end of its initial search of the area believed by officials to be the most likely resting place of the Boeing 777, which disappeared March 8 with 239 aboard. Australian officials coordinating the multinational search effort said Monday that the U.S. Navy's Bluefin-21 submersible has searched about two-thirds of the area where searchers earlier detected pings believed to have come from the jet's "black box" flight recorders.
It has yet to find any sign of the plane.
Officials have said they expect the Bluefin to complete its initial search of the seabed as early as Wednesday. No decision has yet been made about the next step if the wreckage isn't found in the area, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre told The Wall Street Journal late Sunday in response to emailed questions.
21/04/14 Richard C. Paddock and Lucy Craymer/Wall Street Journal

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Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Two-thirds of planned underwater search complete with no wreckage found

s many as 10 military aircraft and 11 ships are taking part in the search for the aircraft, which was carrying 239 people when it vanished on March 8 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
Flight MH370 inexplicably diverted from its course and is thought to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.
No debris from the plane has been found despite an intensive air-and-sea search and hopes now centre on the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 of finding wreckage on the Indian Ocean seabed.
"Bluefin-21 has searched approximately two-thirds of the focused underwater search area to date," the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), which is managing the search, said in a statement.
"No contacts of interest have been found to date."
The torpedo-shaped sonar scanning device has so far made eight missions to the vast depths of the ocean with no result, despite exceeding its operating limit of 4,500 metres.
The Bluefin-21 commenced its ninth mission this morning.
Authorities believe acoustic signals picked up from the seabed far off the West Australian coast by specialist US equipment - known as a towed "pinger" locator - are the best lead so far in solving the mystery.
21/04/14 ABC News

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Malaysia Airlines told to give report on flight MH192 by Wednesday

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Monday that Malaysia Airlines ( MAS) should give a report by Wednesday to the Transport Ministry on the incident that a flight bound for Bangalore, India, was forced to turn back.
The Malaysia Airlines flight MH192 with 166 people on board landed safely at the Kuala Lumpur airport early on Monday because one of the tyres on its main landing gear burst during takeoff.
He said this sort of incidents should not happen, and the ministry should be given a report as soon as possible.
"I give them two days. On Wednesday, I want to see an early report as this is not something like MH370 that is missing in the Indian Ocean, it is related to the condition of the tyres (of the landing gear)," he said.
The Department of Civil Aviation and MAS have been told to be on standby while the notes of the report should be handed to the ministry as soon as possible, he added.
Hishammuddin also praised the pilot of the aircraft, saying he had handled the incident in a professional way.
21/04/14 Xinhua

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Philippines' Seair to become Go Air

The country’s air-services regulator has approved the petition of the South East Asian Airlines Inc. (Seair), the operator of Tigerair Philippines, to change its corporate name.
Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla said in a phone interview that along with the approval comes the agency’s endorsement of the said move to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We approved their petition for endorsement to the SEC. We did not see any violation or any legal implication based on our review,” he told the BusinessMirror. Seair is changing its corporate name to Go Air Inc., as part of its agreement with the new parent company, Tigerair Philippines President Olive C. Ramos said.
“We are changing our corporate name [from] Seair to Go Air Inc. because we have to return the company name to its original owner,” she said.
Seair was rebranded as Tigerair Philippines early last year after Singapore-based Tiger Airways Holdings Pte. Ltd.—through subsidiary Roar Aviation II Pte. Ltd.—acquired a 40-percent interest in the local low-cost carrier in 2012.
The entire shareholding in Tigerair Philippines was then bought by dominant budget carrier operator Cebu Air Inc. in a $15-million deal, which involves a strategic alliance between the two airlines.
21/04/14  Lorenz S. Marasigan/Business Mirror

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Jet-Etihad yet to tap synergies

Mumbai: The first year of the alliance between Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways saw an expansion of flights between the two countries but top-level exits at the Indian carrier impacted the synergy.
On April 24, 2013, the two signed a deal for equity infusion by Etihad in Jet, loan guarantees, purchase of Jet's slots at London’s Heathrow airport, investing in Jet’s frequent flyer programme and cooperation in commercial, engineering and operational areas.
The Rs 2,057-crore investment for a 24 per cent stake in Jet concluded last November and the Rs 900-crore investment in Jet's frequent flyer programme was completed last month. The deal was concluded after the two parties diluted the agreements to meet regulatory concerns but trouble is far from over. The Securities and Exchange Board of India is examining if there was a violation of the takeover code by Etihad.
Etihad's chief executive officer (CEO), James Hogan, and chief financial officer (CFO) James Rigney have joined the Jet board. Appointment of independent board members has not been completed, with both sides yet to select members, an airline source said.
21/04/14 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Air France-KLM increases cargo flights to Chennai, Mumbai

New Delhi: Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo, the air cargo business of Air France-KLM Group, has added one more weekly cargo flight from Chennai to Amsterdam and two more weekly cargo flights from Mumbai to Amsterdam, said Christophe Albert Boucher, Vice-President, Asia and Middle East. Earlier, there were 3 cargo flights a week from Chennai and Mumbai had two flights. “We have decided to not only maintain but reinforce the presence of full freighters in India. The first few flights have been full,” Boucher said in a press conference. He pointed out that the increase in fights would see 40 tonnes a week being added in Mumbai, while the cargo capacity from Chennai is likely to increase by 20 tonnes.
“The idea is not to increase capacity tremendously but get a set up where we can better optimise our presence. The idea is to maximise the profitability of the flight,” Boucher said.
20/04/14 Business Line

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Malaysian Airlines flight to Bangalore makes air turnback, lands safely

Malaysian Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Bangalore flight MH192 made a safe landing in Kuala Lumpur after it was forced to make an air turnback after the “aircraft’s right-hand landing gear malfunctioned upon takeoff”. The plane made an emergency landing at KLIA around 2 am local time.
The incident came to light after Malaysian Airlines tweeted from its official account that the flight was on its way back.
MH192 was scheduled to land in Bangalore at 11.35 pm IST.
A statement from Malaysian Airlines said: “Flight MH192, operated on the B737-800 aircraft, was scheduled to arrive in Bangalore at 11.35pm the same day. The flight was carrying a total number of 166 people on board which include 159 passengers and 07 crew members.”
Earlier, real-time flight trackers showed that the aircraft was close to landing at the Kuala Lumpur airport. But its flight path clearly showed that the aircraft had been circling the airport for sometime.
flight
The incident is significant in the light of the missing MH370 aircraft which was headed for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur when is went missing mid-air.
20/04/14 Indian Express

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MH192 Update: Aircraft lands safely at KLIA

Malaysia Airlines flight MH192 bound for Bangalore tonight had to perform an air turn-back shortly after taking off.
2:20am : Banting fire and rescue department officer Malik Hamdan said MH192 landed normal and safely, only one of the landing gears malfunctioned and no foam were sprayed on the tarmac. Passengers have disembarked from plane.
1:56am: MAS in its official twitter account stated "Malaysia Airlines flight MH192 that made an air turn back towards KLIA has landed safely at 1:56am. Alhamdulillah"
1:50am: Flight MH192 descends to 2000ft
1:40am: Malaysia Airlines releases a statement confirming that flight MH192 that departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 10.09pm bound for Bangalore has made an air turn back towards Kuala Lumpur.
The aircraft’s right-hand landing gear malfunctioned upon takeoff and is expected to make an emergency landing at KLIA at around 2.00am, today.
1:30am : A Department of Civil Aviation spokesman said the aircraft would be allowed to land only when it is nearly out of fuel.
1am : MAS, in its official Twitter account, stated: “Flight MH192 that departed from KUL at 10.09pm bound for Bangalore has made an air turn-back towards KUL. More details to follow.”
20/04/14 New Straits Times

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MH370: Australia ponders whether to extend or stop search

Australia will decide in a few days whether to alter or scale back the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but will consult all countries involved on any changes, Australia's ambassador to the United States said on Sunday.
Kim Beazley told CNN the search countries would "regroup and reconsider" if nothing is found in a section of the Indian Ocean floor now being scanned by a U.S. Navy underwater drone.
This includes adjustments to the air and sea surface search efforts and the possibility of bringing in private contractors to replace some military assets, he said.
"Obviously that's one of the things you're going to consider. You may well also consider bringing in other underwater search equipment," Beazley said on the State of the Union with Candy Crowley program.
"All these sorts of things will be on the table if nothing is found in the next few days," he added
The search coordinators also may reassess the mathematical calculations used in trying to pinpoint the source of "ping" signals believed to be from the missing plane's flight recorders, as well as electronic signals the plane sent to a communications satellite, Beazley said.
20/04/14 Thomson Reuters/CBC News

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Flight 370: Underwater drones find nothing after scouring half of search area

The underwater drone scanning for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 finished its seventh mission Sunday, having covered about half its intended territory without finding any sign of the missing plane.
This has been the case for 44 days now, which seems like an eternity for the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew on board, still hoping for a miracle or, at least, closure.
The Bluefin-21 drone started its eighth mission soon after the previous one ended Sunday morning, surveying the bottom of the southern Indian Ocean for traces of the Boeing 777.
These efforts may be a main focus of the search, but they aren't the only part.
 Inside the cockpit: The hunt for 370 Close quarters and nowhere to go How hard is it to find a black box? The challenges of salvaging MH370 debris Lack of progress angers Chinese families
Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre announced Sunday morning that up to 11 military aircraft and 12 ships would participate in the day's search. They planned to look in two zones that, together, encompass about 18,700 square miles (48,500 square kilometers).
A day earlier, acting Malaysian Transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that "experts have narrowed down the search area."
But are they actually closer to finding anything? "It's difficult to say," Hishammuddin conceded, adding the search "is at a critical juncture."
"I appeal to everybody around the world," he said, "to pray and pray hard that we find something to work on over the next couple of days."
The failure to find clues to the plane's disappearance does not mean that the operation will stop, only that other approaches -- such as a wider scope or the use of other assets -- may be considered, Hishammuddin told reporters. "The search will always continue."
20/04/14  Greg Botelho and Ed Payne/CNN

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Hunt for missing plane at "very critical juncture"

Perth: A robotic submarine looking for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is expected to finish searching a patch of the Indian Ocean seabed within a week after so far coming up empty, and the search area may be expanded after that, officials said Saturday.
If missing plane’s flight recorders are located, what happens next?
As the hunt for Flight 370 hit the six-week mark, the Bluefin 21 unmanned sub began its seventh trip into the depths off the coast of western Australia. Its search area forms a 6.2-mile circle around the location of an underwater signal that was believed to have come from the aircraft's black boxes before their batteries died. The sonar scan of the seafloor in that area is expected to be completed in five to seven days, the search center said in an email to The Associated Press.
The U.S. Navy sub has covered around 51 square miles since it began diving into the depths on Monday. The first trip was cut short because the sub exceeded its "maximum depth limit" of 15,000 feet. Then, a built-in safety feature was triggered and that automatically returned the submersible to the surface.
The latest data are being analyzed, but nothing has yet been identified.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the weekend search is crucial.
"The narrowing of the search for today and tomorrow is at a very critical juncture, so I appeal to everybody around the world to pray and pray hard that we find something to work on over the next couple of days," he said.
But he added that there were no plans to give up once the Bluefin concludes its work. Instead, he said the scope of the search may be broadened or other assets may be used.
"The search will always continue," he said. "It is just a matter of approach. All efforts will be intensified for the next few days with regards to the underwater search."
19/04/14 CBS News

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MH370: Malaysia Airlines to provide financial assistance to families

The families of the passengers and crew of flight MH370 will receive financial assistance from Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to ease their burdens, said Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin.
Mr Hamzah, who heads the sub-committee focusing on the next-of-kin, said that the process to identify those who would receive the assistance started two weeks ago.
The assistance would come solely from MAS, with the government only stepping in to bear some of the costs if there is a need for it.
During a briefing with the families at the Royale Chulan Hotel on Sunday, Mr Hamzah said the families have been requested to submit their own amounts for financial assistance.
"Some of the families have lost their breadwinners and may be facing financial difficulties.
"Those affected will all receive some form of financial assistance from MAS.
"However, when the assistance will be given will be determined at a later date as we have recipients from 15 different countries," he told reporters.
20/04/14 Straits Times

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BRIC to Lead Civil Aviation Market in Next Ten Years

Bangalore: Emerging economy leaders or BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations is forecast to lead the civil aviation market in the next ten years.
According to a study by Oxford Economics and commissioned by Amadeus, states that Asia would become the growth leader in outbound travel expenditure overtaking Europe by 2023. APAC outbound travel is expected to reach $752.8 billion or account for 40-55 per cent of the global total, the study has revealed.
Indian domestic air traffic grew 4 per cent in 2013 reiterating the potential for growth in one of the largest markets in the world for  civil aviation.
Adding to this, China is expected to overtake the US within the next decade and become the biggest domestic market by 2017 mostly due to growing GDP, rising employment and higher consumer spending, it was reported.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Indian domestic air traffic witnessed a de-growth of 2.1 per cent in 2012. Indian air carriers saw a total of 60,115,100 passengers in all scheduled domestic carriers here compared to 57,785,210 passengers in all operators in 2013 according to aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
India was close to the 5.2 per cent increase seen globally in passenger demand compared to 2012.
19/04/14 New Indian Express

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Deep-Water Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Resumes

The search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 continued in the depths of the Indian Ocean with a torpedo-shaped robotic submarine going to work to map the ocean floor in hope of finding traces of the missing plane.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the robotic sub Bluefin-21 was deployed on Tuesday night after deep ocean water ended its initial dive after just six hours.
The sub had been expected to search for 16 hours on Monday, but a built-in safety mechanism cut the journey short after the sub's depth limit of about 2.8 miles was reached, officials said.
Bluefin-21 is searching in the southern Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles off Australia’s west coast, an area of about the size of a medium city — 230 square miles — that officials think is the likeliest place the plane went down.
Acoustical signals believed to be from the aircraft’s black box or flight data recorder led searchers to the remote search area.
Bluefin-21 is capable of creating a three-dimensional sonar map of the area to chart debris on the sea floor. Still, no wreckage or physical trace of the plane has been found.
16/04/14 NBC News

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Malaysia Airlines MH370: Submarine sent down for second trip after first mission fails to find trace of missing plane

The Bluefin-21 submarine has been deployed on its second mission in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, after data from its first dive failed to find any trace of the plane.
The autonomous underwater vehicle was sent on its second underwater journey on Tuesday night, leaving from the Australian vessel Ocean Shield.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre said data from Bluefin-21's first mission had not captured any debris or other objects of interest.
The unmanned submarine's first mission had to be cut short after it exceeded its depth limit of 4,500 metres and an inbuilt safety feature brought it back to the surface.
Today's search for the missing plane will include 11 military aircraft, three civil planes and 11 ships.
Poor weather is expected to bring showers and sea swells of up to two metres to the area.
The flight vanished off radar screens on March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, including six Australians.
The submarine was launched after authorities gave up hope of relocating underwater signals from MH370's flight recorders.
16/04/14 ABC News

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Rumor Says Missing Flight MH 370 Hijacked by Terrorists in Kandahar; Not Confirmed

A report is saying that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 is located in Kandahar Province, and a terrorist named “Hitch” is behind the disappearance.
A Russian newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, said that the plane was hijacked and taken to Afghanistan and the passengers are now being held captive.
“Flight MH370 Malaysia Airlines missing on March 8 with 239 passengers was hijacked,” the Russian paper says. ”Pilots are not guilty; the plane was hijacked by unknown terrorists. We know that the name of the terrorist who gave instructions to pilots is ‘Hitch.’ The plane is in Afghanistan not far from Kandahar near the border with Pakistan.”
The report said that the passengers were divided into seven different groups and are living in huts with little food.
However, the Moskovsky Komsomolets report didn’t offer much in terms of sources–including names or even the identity of the intelligence agency it got its information from.
And Australian search teams are focusing on scouring the southern Indian Ocean for the plane and its black boxes. A submarine is now being used to look for the wreckage.
The alleged hijacking has not been confirmed by Malaysia. The Russian news report also said the terrorists are bargaining with Chinese and Malaysian officials, which also wasn’t confirmed by either country.
There were reports more than a month ago from The Independent newspaper–before Malaysian officials announced that the flew over the Indian Ocean and crashed–saying officials were exploring the possibility the plane may have been hijacked to Pakistan or Afghanistan.
The Independent said at the time: “The missing Malaysian airlines flight MH370 may have been deliberately flown under the radar to Taliban-controlled bases on the border of Afghanistan, it has emerged, as authorities said that the final message sent from the cockpit came after one of the jet’s communications systems had already been switched off.”
The Pakistani Taliban has previously denied hijacking the plane.
16/04/14 Jack Phillips/Epoch Times

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Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Officials downplay report that co-pilot made urgent call before going off radar

The co-pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines plane made a call from his mobile phone moments before the jet went off the radar, according to a weekend report in Malaysian media.
Officials have downplayed the report in the New Straits Times, which said the call from co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid’s phone ended abruptly after contact was established with a telecommunications sub-station in Penang state.
It added the call was made as the jet was flying low near Penang island on Malaysia’s west coast, the morning it went missing.
“The telco’s (telecommunications company’s) tower established the call that he was trying to make. On why the call was cut off, it was likely because the aircraft was fast moving away from the tower and had not come under the coverage of the next one,” the paper said, citing unnamed sources.
Passenger on the missing Malaysian Airlines plane First officer, Fariq Ab.Hamid, Picture: Supplied
Mystery call? ... Co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid. Picture: Supplied Source: News Corp Australia
However Malaysian officials would not comment beyond saying if the report were true, they would have known about the call earlier.
Investigators are still trying to work out what had happened moments before the Boeing 777 went off the radar.
Fariq and Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah have come under intense scrutiny after the plane mysteriously vanished.
16/04/14 News.com.au

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Searchers have pinpointed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crash site: wreck hunter

One of the world's expert wreck hunters believes searchers for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have pinpointed the crash site and that the recovery of the black boxes is inevitable.
David Mearns, director of Blue Water Recoveries told the ABC's 7.30 program on Tuesday that he was confident that, because of their strength, the four “pings” detected were emitted from the black boxes.
"I think essentially they have found the wreckage site," he said.
“While the government hasn't announced that yet, if somebody asked me 'technically do they have enough information to say that?', my answer is unequivocally, yes.
“They have got four very, very good detections with the right spectrum of noise coming from them and it can't be from anything else.”
Mr Mearns, an American, was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his work after he found the wreckage of HMAS Sydney in 2008, 66 years after it had been lost in the Indian Ocean during World War II.
He also helped find the wreckage of Air France flight 447 deep in the Atlantic Ocean in 2011.
Mr Mearns believes search officials are being cautious for the sake of the families of the passengers and crew who were on board, while they wait for the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle to bring back photographic proof of the plane wreckage.
16/04/14 Amanda Hoh/Sydney Morning Herald

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Foreign airlines, investors not to control Indian carriers' management: report

New Delhi: In a move which could affect the Jet-Etihad deal or start-up carriers like Tata-SIA or AirAsia India, DGCA has made it clear that foreign airlines or investors would not have the right to control the management of an Indian carrier.
    Following apprehensions expressed on these lines by various quarters, the aviation regulator has given effect to amendments in a rule relating to grant of flying permits to new airlines in the country, official sources said here.
    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has stipulated that a scheduled Indian airline cannot enter into an agreement with a foreign investing institution or a foreign airline which could give these foreign entities the right to control the management of the domestic operator.
    It has also made it clear that such foreign entities could have representation on the Board of Directors of the Indian airline company, but not more than one-third of the total number, the sources said.
15/04/14 PTI/NDTV

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Jet Airways to make temporary switch to Sharjah

Dubai: India’s Jet Airways will operate from Sharjah International Airport instead of Dubai International from May 1 until July 20.
The switch in operations is due to scheduled runway repairs at Dubai International that will significantly cut capacity at the airport.
Jet Airways had previously applied for a slot at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central but has instead opted to fly from Sharjah.
Passengers are advised to check with the airline what changes have been made to services between the dates.
15/04/14 Gulf News

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Embraer delivers 14 commercial aircraft in 1Q

Embraer delivered 34 aircraft—comprising 14 commercial aviation aircraft and 20 business aviation aircraft—in the first quarter. The Brazilian manufacturer’s first-quarter delivery rate is a 17.2% increase year-over-year, up from 29 aircraft delivered during the same period in 2013.
The 14 commercial aircraft deliveries for the quarter comprised one E-170, eight E-175s, four E-190s and one E-195. Embraer’s commercial aircraft deliveries were down 17.7% year-over-year; the manufacturer delivered 17 in the year-ago quarter.
As of March 31, the company’s firm order backlog totaled $19.2 billion, an increase of $1 billion over Dec. 31, 2013. The backlog includes a firm order for 50 E-Jet E2 aircraft placed by startup Indian carrier Air Costa (25 E-190-E2s and 25 E-195-E2s), which was announced Feb. 13 at the Singapore Airshow.
15/04/14 Mark Nensel/ATWonline

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275 Indian flights to cancel Dubai trip as runway to shut from May 1

Mumbai:  Indian carriers are cutting more than a third of about 275 weekly flights to Dubai as one of the two runways at its airport — the world's second busiest — remains shut for nearly three months starting May 1.
The carriers have either cancelled flights or rescheduled them to Sharjah, which is half an hour from Dubai executives at IndiGo, Jet Airways, Air India and SpiceJet told ET.
On the other hand Emirates will cancel 21 weekly flights out of its total of 185 to India.
Travel company executives said while the point-to-point traffic will shift to Sharjah, the hub traffic, the primary bread and butter for the airport and its carrier Emirates will go to competitors.
15/04/14  Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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Boeing gives wings to student endeavours

New Delhi: Tabrez Nadvi has been building planes since he was in 10th standard. His dream is to build a one-seater aircraft for himself and fly across the world.
The 21-year-old aeronautical engineer from ACS College of Engineering, Bangalore, along with his two team members, Pavan and Vignesh, has won the first Boeing National Aeromodelling Competition.
“It took us just three days to build the plane and we bunked a month of college for flying practice,” says Nadvi.
The competition was organised by Boeing, in association with the IITs of Kanpur, Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Kharagpur. About 170 teams participated in the aircraft design and flying competition, of which 14 teams made it to the finals.
15/04/14 Business Line

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India's AEW Tender: Boeing's Next Battleground

India wants to buy 6 Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft and the tender will be closed in July. Boeing (BA) is the only manufacturer that has a suitable aircraft 'on the shelve', but Airbus is lurking in the background again. Airbus might enter another market niche where Boeing traditionally is the leader.
India has a yearly defense budget of $46B and holds the 8th position of largest defense budgets in the world. Since a lot of aircraft and helicopters in their inventory are older, a modernization program has started to upgrade existing air assets and acquire new types.
This program will probably offer the largest foreign military export opportunities for U.S. and European aerospace companies in this decade.
15/04/14 Seeking Alpha

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Air India Express flight returns to Muscat midway

Muscat: An Air India Express flight bound to Mangalore from Muscat returned after an hour flight due to technical reasons and took off delayed on Sunday evening.
"The flight left Muscat at around 2:15pm and flew for one hour. Later on, due to some technical reasons, it had to fly back to Muscat, as it is the nearest airport, and landed at around 4:30pm," a senior official at Air India Muscat office told Times of Oman, with disclosing the details of the technical glitch.
The passengers were offloaded and they were only able to board the plane and leave Muscat at around 6pm.
14/04/14 Times of Oman

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New DGCA ownership rule may hit Jet-Etihad, AirAsia plans

New Delhi: In a move that could make it more difficult for foreign entities to take over the management of a domestic airline in India, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has stipulated that an Indian carrier cannot enter into an agreement that gives the foreign airline, foreign investing institution or others on their behalf the right to control the management of the domestic operator.
Analysts feel that the revision to the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) could affect the fortunes of Etihad's buy-out of Jet Airways as also the two new start-up airlines, AirAsia India and Tata-Singapore Airlines.
All three are at various stages of getting permission from the Government.
The CAR, laid down by the DGCA, stipulates the rules that an airline has to follow to be allowed to operate in the country.
Aviation industry watchers feel that the worst affected is likely to be AirAsia India, the three-way joint venture between AirAsia, Tata Sons and the Bhatias.
14/04/14 Business Line

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Jet Airways reportedly leaves tourist lying unconscious for three hours

Mumbai: 34-year-old Ukrainian national Korostelros’ lay unconscious at Mumbai international airport for three hours, before the airline on which he was supposed to travel finally decided to admit him to hospital. Korostelros was to board the Jet Airways flight to Brussels on Wednesday night, when he had an epilepsy attack and fell unconscious around 9.15 pm at the T2 departures terminal.
An on-duty doctor from Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) rushed to his aid and immediately advised hospitalisation. But, Jet Airways allegedly refused to immediately rush him to a nearby hospital.
He was left unattended for three long hours before he was admitted to KEM Hospital. He was taken to KEM only at around 12 am.
Airport officials allege that the airline didn’t want to take responsibility of the passenger. “The airline duty manager was informed immediately about the incident, but they were hesitant to take any action. He was then ushered to the Medical Inspection (MI) room in an unconscious state,” said an airport official present at the spot.
14/04/14 Mid Day/Daijiworld.com

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Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo adds flights from Chennai, Mumbai

New Delhi: Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo has added one more weekly cargo flight from Chennai to Amsterdam and two more weekly cargo flights from Mumbai to Amsterdam, Christophe Albert Boucher, Vice President, Asia and Middle East, said on Monday evening.
Earlier, there were three cargo flights per week from Chennai and two weekly cargo flights from Mumbai.
“We have decided not only to maintain but reinforce the presence of full freighters in India. The first few flights have been full,” Boucher said addressing a press conference. He also pointed out that the addition of more fights will see an additional 40 tonnes a week being made available from Mumbai while the cargo capacity from Chennai is likely to remain the same as before at 20 tonnes a week. Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo, is the dedicated air cargo business of the Air France-KLM Group.
“The idea is not to increase capacity tremendously but get a set up where we can better optimise our presence. The idea is to maximise the profitability of the flight,” Boucher said. While pharmaceutical products remain important, Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo is also trying to see that it gets mail and couriers on board its flights.
15/04/14 Business Line

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Ex-Sri Lankan AG, two Maldivian lawyers to represent GMR in arbitration

India's GMR is seeking assistance from a former Sri Lankan attorney general and two Maldivian attorneys in the preliminary arbitration hearings over the "wrongful termination" of the contract to develop the Maldives main international airport, Haveeru has learnt.
Haveeru understands that that GMR had hired former Sri Lankan attorney general Mohamed Shibly Aziz, and former Maldivian deputy solicitor general Ibrahim Riffath and Maldivian lawyer Fayaz Ismail to assist them in matters related to the Maldivian legal system.
Riffath was involved in formulating the Maldivian government's arguments against GMR's case. He was also working at the attorney general's office when the contract with the Indian infrastructure giant was terminated.
In the preliminary proceedings that started last Thursday in an arbitration court in Singapore, Maldives Supreme Court Judge Abdulla Saeed is the leading legal advisor from the Maldives.
Attorney general Mohamed Anil, his deputy hmed Usham and a team of legal experts from Singapore and the UK are also a part of the team representing the Maldives in the GMR case.
13/04/14 Farah Ahmed/Haveeru Online

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Bespoke carpets fitted at new Indian terminals

New state-of-the art terminals at two Indian airports have rolled out the carpet for passengers after fitting them out with bespoke carpets.
UK firm Brintons, has carpeted new terminals, at Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport, and Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, as part of a €1.5 million contract.
 The carpet manufacturer says the carpets have a ‘blend of durability and design excellence’ and feature designs based on local themes.
 The design for Mumbai International’s Terminal 2 draws inspiration from India’s national bird, the Peacock, while the Bangalore design is based on traditional Indian Rangoli patterns.
 Both installations cover an area of 36,000 square metres, and will withstand a combined footfall of more than 50mppa.
 Brintons is the Royal Warrant Holder to supply carpets to Britain’s Royal residences, and has a rich history dating back to 1783.
14/04/14 Justin Burns/Airport World

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Dubai airport to cut 26% flights during runway work

Dubai: Airlines flying into Dubai are preparing for diversions and schedule changes as the emirate's main airport, a hub for tourism and trade in the region, plans to reduce the number of flights it handles during construction work on its runways.
Dubai International, which handled 66.4 million passengers in 2013, making it the world's second busiest airport for international passenger traffic after London's Heathrow, will cut flights by 26 percent for an 80-day period, Dubai's airports authority said on Sunday.
The cut-back will occur between May 1 and July 20 as first one runway and then the other is closed for resurfacing and other construction work, Dubai Airports said.
13/04/14 Reuters/Economic Times

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Gold smuggling arrests jump 750% YoY in India

Mumbai: While cases of gold smuggling in India have jumped 265% from 40 in 2012-13 to 146 in 2013-14, the number of people arrested has shot up by 750%, from 30 in 2012-13 to 255 in 2013-14, data from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence shows.
"Gold imports through the legal channel have come down considerably. The chorus to decrease import duty is gaining everyday, and the recent trade figures are indicative that things have slumped to a new low," said Manish Kedia, bullion trader.
Data shows that gold smuggling cases at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, have jumped 15 times in the last one year. Around 75% of the gold seized by customs officials at the airport in 2013-14 has been after August 2013, when the Indian government slapped 10% duty on gold imports.
Elsewhere, the value of gold seized has jumped 442% in one year, from $7.4 million (Rs 448 million) to $40 million (Rs 2.4 billion), according to data from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which has been tracking seizures across the country.
On April 10, 5 kilograms of gold was seized at the Chennai international airport, while a day earlier on April 9, customs officials had a rich haul of over 15.7 kilograms of gold at the Hyderabad airport, valued at more than $746,716 (Rs 45 million) from two lady passengers travelling from the Gulf. The instances keep on adding everyday.
11/04/14 Shivom Seth/Mineweb

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Indian activist on board Malaysian jet mourned in S Africa

Johannesburg: An Indian activist, who was on board the crashed Malaysian airliner and fought for South African subsistence fishermen, has been mourned by rights activists here.
Chandrika Sharma, considered to be a world leader in fishing rights activism, was among 239 people aboard the Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 that on March 8 mysteriously disappeared after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
Sharma, 51, is being mourned by South African fishing rights activists as she befriended subsistence fishermen from the South African coastal areas when she was an Indian representative to the World Summit on Sustainable Development here in 2002.
Since then, she played a major role in the development of local small-scale fisheries, said Naseegh Jaffer, director of the Masifundise Development Trust and coordinator of the World Forum of Fisher People.
12/04/14 Business Standard

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Will Etihad's Flock of Ailing Airlines Fly?

From Serbia to the Seychelles, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer James Hogan has been greeted as a savior for his willingness to bail out cash-strapped airlines. Since 2011 the Australian has arranged stakes in seven carriers, from Aer Lingus Group  on Europe’s western fringe to Virgin Australia Holdings  on the shores of the Pacific, to help funnel passenger traffic through Etihad’s desert hub in Abu Dhabi. His next rescue may be the boldest yet: Italy’s Alitalia, dogged by bloated payrolls, state meddling, and chronic losses.
Hogan’s investment in a clutch of ailing airlines over which he has limited managerial control comes a decade after a similar strategy led to the collapse of Swissair. Leading airlines now favor global alliances of independent carriers. What sets state-controlled Etihad apart is funding from an oil-rich government eager to match the growth of Qatar Airways and Emirates, the No.?1 international airline, which is based less than 100 miles away in Dubai. “Swiss, back in the day, also acquired a lot of ailing carriers,” Deutsche Lufthansa Chief Financial Officer Simone Menne said at an event last October. “But Etihad has much deeper pockets.”
Hogan says his investments in airlines that serve minor markets or are overshadowed by major carriers in bigger ones will lift Etihad’s passenger tally and secure economies of scale needed to make his ragtag empire profitable. “This is a long-term play,” says Hogan, who became CEO in 2006 after running Gulf Air. “This isn’t for 12 months; this is for the next 20, 30, 40 years.”
10/04/14 Deena Kamel Yousef and Christopher Jasper/Business Week

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Jet Aiways flight ‘vanished’ for 30 mins over Germany

New Delhi: Five days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared mysteriously last month, a Jet Airways flight from London to Mumbai was reported missing for more than 30 minutes while flying over Germany, causing German aviation authorities to panic and subsequently complain to the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Documents accessed by The Indian Express show that the DGCA has launched an inquiry after its German counterpart complained that on March 13, pilots of flight 9W117 lost communication with air traffic authorities in Germany and did not respond through much of the duration of the flight over German airspace.
The flight was a Boeing 777-300ER jet with the registration VT-JEG. It was manufactured in 2007 and had a seating capacity of 312 passengers.
A Jet Airways spokesperson confirmed the incident when reached by The Indian Express.
“The Jet Airways flight 9W 117 was between London and Mumbai where communication was lost over German airspace as the crew overlooked increasing the speaker volume after removing the headphones. This was investigated by the regulator and the pilots were off flying for two weeks. The report has been sent to the German authorities for closure.”
10/04/14 Mihir Mishra/Indian Express

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Anacondas Sweat it out in Chennai airport Area

Chennai: Seven anacondas from a Sri Lankan zoo had a firsthand experience of just how hot it can get in the city, when the crate carrying the snakes had to be kept in the airport’s import cargo clearance area after arrival — awaiting clearance from customs and quarantine officials, according to specified norms.
The snakes were sealed in special transport cases and flown from Colombo on Sri Lankan Airways flight UL 127 that arrived a little after 3.30 pm. However, they were made to wait in the extremely humid cargo floor till after 5.10 pm for the officials to arrive and sign off, causing a lot of distress among zoo officials who had come to collect the reptiles.
The Green Anacondas (Eunectes murinus) were bound for the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo and were part of a barter deal with the Dehiwala Zoo in Colombo.
10/04/14  Daniel Thimmayya/New Indian Express

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Oman Air evaluates business prospects in Indian destinations

Muscat: The importance of India to Oman Air's sales strategy was underlined recently, when the national carrier of the Sultanate held its business review for India and sales team orientation programme in Jaipur.
The event, held on April 2 and 3, was presided over by Oman Air chief commercial officer Abdulrazaq Al Raisi, supported by the airline's general manager worldwide sales and senior manager sales (Asia Pacific), and brought together Oman Air's country manager - India, district sales managers from Oman Air's 10 Indian stations and the management and sales team heads of its general sales agents in India.
"Oman Air's India Business Review was an excellent way of bringing together our sales staff and partners and agreeing a way forwards which will bring commercial success through planned and coordinated working," said Abdulrazaq Al Raisi.
09/04/14 Times of Oman

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Aggressive aviation strategies cause overcapacity in Southeast Asia

Kuching: Analysts believe the aggressive expansion strategies of aviation peers has led to overcapacity within Southeast Asia.
The research arm of TA Securities Holdings Bhd (TA Research) said while the rapid emergence of new low cost carriers (LCCs) will see four new entrants – Thai AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia X, NokScoot and Thai VietJet Air – joining the fray this year, the bane of overcapacity for the industry came from peers’ aggressive expansion strategies.
These expansion strategies would add 88 new aircraft to bring fleet size to 573 by the end of 2014.
That said, the research arm highlighted that the deferral of seven aircraft delivery in 2014 and 12 in 2015 by AirAsia Bhd (AirAsia) and to swap to A320neo may help to alleviate the problem of excess capacity.
However, it observed that Lion Air Group is by far the concern of overcapacity and competition. Based on Lion Air’s fleet programme, the group is expected to take delivery of 48 new aircraft in which 28 are expected to operate in Indonesia, 12 for its Malaysia affiliate Malindo Air and eight for its Thailand affiliate Thai Lion Air.
10/04/14 The Borneo Post

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New ping signals spark confidence in Malaysia Airlines search

Sydney/Perth: Australian officials said on Wednesday that two new "ping" signals had been detected in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, boosting confidence after more than a month of fruitless searching for the missing jetliner.
The signals, which could be from the plane’s black-box recorders, bring to four the number of overall "pings" detected in recent days within the search area by a US Navy "towed pinger locator".
Angus Houston, head of the Australian agency co-ordinating the search, struck an optimistic tone when announcing the information, but urged caution as the task of searching the remote Indian Ocean region remained enormous.
"I believe we are searching in the right area but we need to visually identify aircraft wreckage before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370," Mr Houston told reporters in the western Australian city of Perth.
"I’m now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not-too-distant future."
The black boxes record cockpit data and may provide answers about what happened to the plane, which was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished on March 8 and flew thousands of kilometres off its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route.
09/04/14 Matt Siegel and Sawti Pandey/BD Live

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